The Crashing Kipper
Plot Henry and James argued all day and all night while at the Steamworks for a whole week. For the most part, Edward paid little to no attention to the arguing. "I'll be out of here, soon. I only have a broken coupling." he thought to himself. But soon it got very grating, very quickly. "My paint's red, which automatically makes me better!" "That has literally nothing to do with the conversation." "Well, excuse me for trying to mention my strong points. At least I'm not a jinx!" snorted James. "Edward, do you think I'm a jinx?" asked Henry.. Before Edward could reply, James butted in. "Don't ask him! He's obviously going to say 'no', because he's so kind he'll literally say 'no' to everything." chuffed James angrily. At last, Edward lost patience. "Will you two shut up for once? All you do is argue and argue. It's getting nowhere!" Edward huffed angrily, "I'm sick of hearing you two!" James snorted. "He started it..." mumbled Henry. Suddenly, Victor's whistle sounded. "I don't care who started it! You two will not argue while in my Steamworks! This place is meant to have a positive atmosphere; not a sanctuary for you to bicker!" fumed Victor and the two engines fell silent immediately. Edward sighed with relief. "Thanks Victor; you're a wonder sometimes." "Someone has to keep them in order." chuckled Victor. Soon Edward was repaired and gleefully puffed away, leaving Henry and James. A few days later, Henry was repaired. "There you go, my friend. The workmen have done their final inspection and say you're ready to go!" "Thanks, Victor." replied Henry sadly and he puffed off. James couldn't help but snicker as the big engine left. "What's so funny?" snapped Victor. "Nothing." Henry wasn't looking forward to going home, he was now called a "jinx" among the engines, since James had told the others of the joke. The engines found the subject very funny indeed. When Henry arrived at Tidmouth Sheds, some of the engines were there, ready to tease as he backed into his berth. "You'll be taking the Flying Kipper tonight! Better take care this time, Henry!" chortled Gordon. "Beware the frost!" teased Oliver. "You don't wanna crash again!" added Percy. Henry was cross, but said nothing. "Ugh, James..." he thought crossly. The next morning at 4:30, Henry was arriving at Brendam to collect the Flying Kipper. Salty was shunting the vans together. "Please, hurry. I don't want to lose track of time." said Henry impatiently. "There's only so many vans I can shunt at once, me hearty!" replied Salty. Henry sighed and waited. He waited and waited and waited until at last the vans were in place. Then, Cranky had to fill the vans with fish to take to the Mainland. But Cranky was taking his time. "I'm tired!" he complained, "All I have for company is a seagull who keeps pecking my crane arm!" "Botheration! Hurry up, you slowpoke! I have to be on time!" grumbled Henry, but Cranky just went slower. "I can do what i want!" Henry groaned. It was 5:15 by the time the fish was loaded; Henry was 15 minutes late. "Oh, come on! Come on!" said Henry as the guard blew his whistle. The driver looked back and saw a green lantern shine. "Come on, ol' boy. We can make up lost time along the way." "Let's hope so." worried Henry as he hurried out of the dockside. Luckily, they were able to make up 10 minutes, but they were still late to every station. The porters unloaded the fish as quickly as possible when they heard that Henry was late. Henry always gave his thanks, and always took off like a bullet. Thanks to them, Henry was eventually right on time for his last delivery to the Mainland. Henry was nearing the Vicarstown Bridge. "Must be on time. I'm not a jinx. Nothing will happen tonight and I'll prove James wrong!" Henry grew more and more determined as the rolling bridge came into view. But Henry's luck was short lived. Before the bridge was a junction where a new siding led to buffers before the embankment. As Henry neared the bridge, he suddenly could see that the points were frozen from the frost, but were pointed in the wrong direction. "Stop! Stop!" cried Henry. The driver looked out the window. "Oh no..." and he jumped clear. Henry was horrified as he saw his driver run out of the way. "Wait, I can't stop without you!" cried Henry, but it didn't matter at that point as the fireman jumped clear as well. The frost just made Henry go faster as he slid along into the buffers. "Phew, those will stop me!" Henry panted with relief, but they didn't. The wood splintered and broke as Henry's weight crushed what little was left. "Oh nooo!" Henry cried as he raced along the embankment, and then stopped just before the Walney Channel, the river that separated Sodor from England. His buffers touched the cold water of the river. "Oh, heeelp!" Henry cried loudly as he wheels started to slip into the river, but only the crew had heard them. The fireman scowled at the driver as they ran over to their engine. "What?" the driver asked sheepishly. "Why on Earth did you jump out for? If you didn't, this wouldn't have happened!" the fireman cried. The driver didn't bother answering the question as he ran over to inspect Henry. "Hmm, looks like you're pretty much fine, Henry! I'll call for Den and Dart to arrive with Jerome and Judy." "Why not Rocky?" asked Henry, trying to repress the thought of the two devious Diesels coming to rescue him. "Rocky's lifting boulders at the Blue Mountain Quarry. As for the Diesels in case you're wondering, they're closest so it only makes sense." Henry snorted; he was not in the mood for the Diesels. The driver called the Dieselworks manager and made the arrangements, then sat down by Henry and waited. A rooster was heard in the distance as the sun started to rise. Just then, a horn was heard. Then another soon followed."Ugh, here they come." scowled Henry. "Oh, look Den! It's Henry the Jinx!""He's fallen in the water! Again!" chortled Den. Den and Dart laughed, then continued their taunting. "Better luck next time, Jinxy!" teased Den. "Oh, ha! Jinxy! That's a good one!" chuckled Dart. The Diesels laughed as the workmen climbed down from the works unit coach. "Come on, we'll have you back on the rails!" they said. Soon, the two cranes lifted Henry onto the rails again, then his tender. Henry was pleased to be back on the rails, but his happiness died out as Den and Dart continued teasing. "I don't think you're pulling the Flying Kipper anymore! I think you're pulling the Crashing Kipper!" chortled Den. Henry sighed. "Poor accident-prone Henry!" added Dart, "Always breaking down all the time!" "Not very nice, is it Judy?" "I certainly think not, Jerome. Please don't say things like that, Den and Dart." The Diesels just rolled their eyes. Meanwhile, James had just gotten out of the Steamworks and was at Tidmouth Sheds, getting a rest before the real work of the day started. Suddenly his driver ran up urgently with news. "Come on, James!" said the driver, "We need to get Henry to the Steamworks. You're the only engine available." James muttered something under his breath and puffed away to the Vicarstown Bridge. Soon, James arrived to shunt Henry back to the yard as Den and Dart looked after the trucks, as well as the cranes. James didn't dare say anything; after all, it wouldn't really be fair that he would tease Henry right after he himself crashed. "So..." said James, trying to start a conversation, "I guess we're even now." "Good. Now we can stop acting like kindergartners." laughed Henry, "Friends?" "Friends!" replied James, thankful that the feud had finally ended. Ever since then, the two had developed a friendly rivalry, but, thankfully, they don't fight nearly as much. Characters *Edward *Henry *Gordon *James *Percy *Oliver *Salty *Den *Dart *Victor *Jerome and Judy *Cranky *BoCo (cameo) *Arthur (cameo) *Hiro (cameo) *Connor (cameo) *Porter (cameo) *Kevin (cameo) *Rocky (mentioned) Locations *Crovan's Gate Steamworks *Tidmouth Sheds *Brendam Docks *Kellsthorpe Road *Crovan's Gate *Vicarstown *Vicarstown Bridge *Blue Mountain Quarry (mentioned) Category:Sodor Adventures